Neat! A Collection of Cecilos Ficlets
by Ezra Quinn
Summary: Standalone chapters that are not related to each other, ranging from fluff to awkwardness to smut and combinations of the three; also ranging from drabbles to ficlets in terms of length. I accept requests if you have any! (No tentacles, please)
1. How Do You Talk to a Scientist?

Cecil was in the midst of dancing around the crampt living room of his apartment when he heard a gentle knock on the door. He had just finished his broadcast for the evening not half an hour earlier, and was settling into a relaxing evening in his usual way: dancing to one of his many Parov Stelar records. Upon hearing the knock - quiet as it was with the record player on - Cecil stopped dancing and looked curiously at the door for a moment before striding towards his bedroom to grab a shirt to make himself decent; but he'd hardly taken two steps before another knock, still quiet but slightly more urgent, once again sounded from the other side of the door.

At the urgency of the second knock, Cecil abandoned his detour for a shirt and hurried to open the door. A third earnest knock was in progress as he opened the door as far as the chain lock would allow. It was nearly 11:30 at night, and one could never be too cautious when Hiram McDaniels was still at large.

However, it was not a five-headed dragon that stood with a fist hovering in the air where Cecil's door had been just moments before, but instead a beautiful, perfect scientist with beautiful, perfect hair. Cecil's face immediately flushed, and his hair flashed from platinum blonde to white to a light strawberry blonde.

"C-Carlos?" Cecil stammered in disbelief before hastening to undo the chain lock so that he could open the door all the way.

"Your hair just changed color. Twice." Carlos's eyes - fixed on Cecil's fashionably tousled and apparently color-changing hair - echoed the disbelief in Cecil's voice.

"Y-es?" Cecil dragged out the word uncertainly, not understanding the scientist's confusion but also not wanting to insult the object of his affection.

Carlos opened his mouth to ask a question, brown eyes still focused on Cecil's hair, but closed it and then shook his head, averting his eyes from Cecil's hair. Unfortunately, this aversion caused them to land on Cecil's bare chest, which was completely hairless and decorated with a large, complex tattoo: an Egyptian-style black eye on one side, from which several purple swirls extended in all directions, some curling around his pectoral muscles and others extending as far downwards as his hipbones (he supposed, anyway; they dipped just out of sight below the waistline of Cecil's skirt) and as far upwards as his shoulder.

Carlos quickly realized he was staring, and was very nearly distracted again as Cecil's hair became slightly more pink. He cleared his throat, however, and finally was able to focus on Cecil's purple eyes as he said, "I'm sorry to disturb you at your home, but I had just missed you leaving the station earlier. My team at the lab would like you to read this on your show tomorrow. It's very important, or else I would not have bothered you at this hour."

Carlos reached into one of his lab coat's many pockets and withdrew a very neatly folded piece of paper, which he handed to Cecil. The radio host took the paper and skimmed it; it was a request for citizens to donate watches to the lab for research - broken or functional, any watches at all.

"Okay," Cecil replied brightly, and seeing an opportunity for conversation, asked, "So... what do you need watches for?"

"We're applying... we want to determine... most theories posit..." Carlos started three different sentences, but broke off in increasing frustration with trying to put their current research into simple terms. "We're trying to determine why time does not function normally in Night Vale."

Cecil laughed: a sound Carlos had never heard before, and would ordinarily have enjoyed if he wasn't so confused as to why Cecil was laughing in the first place. As his laughter died down, Cecil said, "Of course time doesn't function normally in Night Vale; time isn't real!" Upon seeing the baffled expression on Carlos's face, however, Cecil's smile faltered.

"Well, I must be going now, Cecil. Goodbye." Carlos's expression had turned into distracted concern, and Cecil stood uncertainly in the doorway as Carlos abruptly retreated down the hall, taking out a small rectangle and speaking into it quietly as he rounded the corner.

Had he offended Carlos? As an outsider, did Carlos not know that time wasn't real? Cecil's hair darkened into a dirty blonde now, and he frowned as he closed and locked his door. He glanced down at his chest, remembering that it had been bare for the entirety of their brief conversation. Had his birthmark frightened or disgusted Carlos? Sure, purple swirls on one's torso were rare, but they were certainly not unheard of. And eyes were fairly common, though Cecil's was larger than average. He stroked the eye distractedly as he walked slowly back into his living room.

And then there was the comment Carlos had made about his hair. Cecil didn't own any mirrors, after a nasty accident he'd had as a child, but he doesn't need mirrors or other people to tell him that his hair changes colors with his mood; of course he already knew that. It was his hair, after all. Was it a scientist habit, then? They are observers, after all, so perhaps Carlos was simply observing? Is observing small talk for scientists?

This is all so terribly confusing. Cecil flopped onto his small couch and toyed absent-mindedly with the hem of his skirt. Why did Carlos have to be a scientist? If he'd been something normal, like a pizza delivery executioner or a plumber, he'd know how to talk to him without being offensive or sounding so unimpressive in comparison.

At any rate, it was getting close to midnight now, and if Cecil didn't get into bed soon, he'd end up having his building's scheduled sleep cycle time on the couch and consequently lose the previous day's pay and the next night's sleep. It had happened once before, and it was a very unpleasant experience he had no desire to repeat. So he made sure his bloodstones were in order before undressing and climbing into bed, his unconscious mind preoccupied the whole night through.


	2. Potato

"Carlos, what is wrong with these rocks?" Cecil poked uncertainly at one of the potatoes Carlos had just brought home from the store.

"What?" Carlos leaned out of the fridge for a moment to look over his shoulder at Cecil. The scientist often brought a variety of strange and seemingly ordinary objects home to run tests on just for fun, as a break from his work at the lab. While rocks were not out of the question for this purpose, he did not recall bringing any home recently. He'd found that rocks were one of the few legitimately ordinary objects in Night Vale.

Carlos shut the fridge and walked up to the counter beside Cecil, who was eyeing a bag of potatoes as if they had infiltrated the apartment uninvited and with nefarious intentions.

"Those aren't rocks, Cecil, they're potatoes," Carlos explained, opening the bag to remove a potato and offer it to Cecil. The broadcaster was still eyeing them suspiciously, but seeing Carlos handling them without any fuss seemed to put him slightly more at ease. He took the potato from Carlos with two hands, and began investigating it. Smelling, prodding, whispering to it, listening, and squeezing. He stared at it, holding it in his palms (still both hands, as it was Cecil's custom to devote his full attention to whatever he was doing at any given moment), and looked expectantly at Carlos.

"It doesn't appear to be alive," Cecil said after a moment. "What does it do?"

"It's food," Carlos explained patiently. "A pretty versatile kind of tuber plant. You can make all sorts of different side dishes with it for meals, like the french fries at Big Rico's, or you can mash them with butter and herbs. And they also conduct a small amount of electricity."

"Potato," Cecil repeated carefully, as if getting his mouth used to the word. "Where did you find these?"

"The produce section of the supermarket," Carlos replied, adding, "I'm surprised you've never seen them before."

"The produce department?" Cecil repeated in alarm, talking over the second half of Carlos's statement, "You went to the _produce department?_"

"Well, yes. Is there-?" Cecil had flung the potato across the small kitchen in alarm, and his eyes were wide with concern as he interrupted Carlos urgently.

"It is not safe to go to the produce department! The hooded figures linger there. You could have been-" Cecil was at a loss for words, as no one really knew what happened when you became victim of a hooded figure, but he was far too upset to continue speaking anyway. He had been gripping Carlos's arms very tightly, and now he pulled his boyfriend into an anxious embrace.

"Cecil, don't worry. The only hooded figure I saw was over by the broccoli and other greens, so I avoided that part," Carlos gently rubbed Cecil's back in a circular motion he'd found was extremely comforting for the broadcaster.

"Please don't go back there again," Cecil had pulled back slightly to look at Carlos directly, and was speaking firmly now.

"I won't, I promise," Carlos reassured him, gently pressing his lips to Cecil's forehead.

After a moment, Cecil turned back towards the potatoes on the counter. "You said they conduct electricity?"

"Yes! It's a very small amount, but they can do it," Carlos had always had a special fondness for potatoes, because they were great for both cooking AND scientific purposes. "Here, I'll show you. We'll leave these for cooking," Carlos tied the bag closed and put them away in a cupboard, "and we'll use this one for science," and he bent to pick up the discarded potato Cecil had dropped in alarm.

"Yay, science!" Cecil's boyish excitement was showing, and Carlos grinned as he took the broadcaster's hand to lead him to his workbench in the spare bedroom. Cecil's enthusiasm for science had originated from his interest in Carlos, the scientist knew, but now he seemed to be developing a genuine interest in it. That, or he simply enjoyed watching Carlos do what he did best. Either way, Carlos was always more than willing to perform tests or run experiments for Cecil's enjoyment, even if it was just powering a light bulb with a potato.


	3. Pool

The Night Vale School District was sponsoring a pool day, and most of the town was in attendance. Cecil was going partly for the enjoyment of the event and partly for work to observe and report on the event later that evening. He'd brought Carlos along, because he thought it sounded like a good idea for a fun date. They'd been dating for just over a month now, and Cecil couldn't be happier; his perfect scientist was gradually becoming more emotionally intimate and was learning that sometimes he has to set aside lab work to spend time with Cecil. On a parallel learning curve, Cecil was learning that he shouldn't divulge every detail about his and Carlos's relationship on the air.

Cecil had been swimming and interacting with his fellow Night Vale residents for a while, but now he was seated on a small poolside bench, taking notes and making observations for his broadcast later that night.

John Peters - you know, the farmer - was attempting to teach one of his pigs how to swim, which was becoming an increasingly splashy business. Nearby, Larry Leroy looked as though he regretted having come all the way out from the edge of town, as he was on the receiving end of much of the pig's splashing.

Meanwhile, a group of Night Vale Elementary School students were being scolded by the man we all believe to be the sheriff for performing a blood sacrifice ritual in the pool; all blood sacrifices are meant to be performed at a safe distance from other citizens in order to prevent confusion on the Glow Cloud's part for the conclusion of the ritual. The man we all believe to be the sheriff had generously volunteered to act as lifeguard for the day, going so far as to lower his hovering cloud office over the lifeguard's post.

In the shallow end of the pool, Teddy Williams had brought an inflatable bowling set, and appeared to be re-enacting the incident at the Underground City for the benefit of a group of young intern scientists, whose heads would furtively turn towards Carlos throughout Teddy's story.

Cecil himself now turned his attention to Carlos, and saw that he was having a conversation with Joel Eisenberg. Until today, Cecil had not seen Carlos without his shirt before, and was not entirely surprised to find that even his dense chest hair was perfect. Carlos seemed to sense Cecil's gaze, turned towards him, and smiled. Cecil's hair lightened as he returned the smile, and Carlos turned back to the flying dinosaur expert, said goodbye, and swam to the edge of the pool nearest Cecil.

Cecil could not help but stare as Carlos's muscular arms hoisted himself out of the pool, and he stood dripping at the pool's edge, pausing to adjust his swimming shorts (in vain - they slipped back down just below his hips with the weight of the water) before striding towards Cecil.

He sat beside Cecil on the bench, facing backwards with his back towards the pool. He'd confessed upon meeting Cecil at his apartment on their way to the event that he was self-conscious about his slightly pudgy stomach, and despite Cecil's complimentary arguments, Carlos preferred that it not be on display to the other pool-goers.

"Taking notes?" Carlos asked, leaning sideways into his boyfriend to read them, but pulling back once his hair started dripping onto the notebook.

"I was just finishing them," Cecil replied, shutting the notebook and setting it on the dry side of the bench. He looked Carlos up and down, and felt an unfamiliar carbonated sort of feeling in his stomach and a little ways below it. "Even your chest hair is perfect," he said quietly - Carlos had recently told him that couples' talk should be kept quiet and private. Without thinking, he reached out and ran his fingers through the damp, matted curls on Carlos's chest.

Carlos blushed and responded by leaning in and pressing his lips into Cecil's, a bit more firmly than either of them had expected. "Cecil, I..." he faltered bashfully, noticing that Cecil's hair was platinum blonde now, "I'd like to, um, be alone with you."

"Alone," Cecil repeated thoughtfully. "Alone is a good thing?"

"Definitely," Carlos nearly purred in Cecil's ear, startled by how intensely he was reacting to this situation. It had started when he first saw Cecil in his bathing suit, which was less than what Carlos even wore for underwear, and then seeing Cecil swimming and wet and now touching his chest... they had yet to be physically intimate beyond kissing and holding, and now Carlos felt they'd reached the turning point. In scientific terms, the titration was in the dripping stages; so very close to turning colors.

Just then, loud splashes were heard, and Cecil and Carlos were startled out of their private moment. The Glow Cloud had arrived, and was hovering over the pool, raining medium-sized animals onto and around the swimmers. Cecil jumped up from the bench and reopened his notebook, taking notes excitedly as the scene unfolded.

Once everybody was out of the pool - except for John Peters (you know, the farmer)'s pig, which had just gotten the hang of swimming and was quite enjoying itself now - the Glow Cloud glided over towards the group of dripping elementary students who had performed the blood sacrifice, and as it passed, one of the children appeared to fall into a dazed state and followed the Glow Cloud as it left the pool area, and sailed towards Radon Canyon. Soon, both the child and the Glow Cloud were out of sight.

Carlos stared blankly in the direction where the two had disappeared, and Cecil began cheerily putting his things away into his bag. "This was neat, wasn't it? I hope we do this again. I think it's a good community strengthening event."

Deciding to let the matter go, as he had been learning was often the only thing he could do sometimes, Carlos turned back to Cecil, who was smiling and reaching for Carlos's hand. "Can we be alone at my apartment?" Cecil wasn't entirely sure what Carlos meant about being alone, but with the strange abdominal sensations he was experiencing, he felt he'd be most comfortable at home.

"Yes," Carlos replied with a smile that intensified Cecil's strange sensations, and the two headed back towards Carlos's car.


	4. Pool (Part 2)

Upon entering his apartment, Cecil hung his and Carlos's damp towels in the bathroom, and then returned to the living room where Carlos was standing awkwardly by the front door. Everything but his hair had dried on the drive from the pool, which made him even more beautiful than usual.

"So... why did you want to be alone?" Cecil asked, walking up to Carlos and fiddling with his now-fluffy chest hair. He looked expectantly into Carlos's eyes, and the scientist appeared to be unsure of how to respond. He opened his mouth to speak a few times, but each time shook his head and frowned. After a few failed attempts to speak, he gently cradled Cecil's face in his hands and pulled him in for a kiss. Cecil brought his other hand to rest on Carlos's chest, and returned the kiss. Carlos pulled his face away for a moment, and appearing to have finally found his words, murmured, "I want to be intimate with you, Cecil."

The carbonation in Cecil's abdomen rose into his chest now, and he smiled at his perfect scientist, still fiddling with the dark hairs on Carlos's chest. "I thought we already were," he replied and gave Carlos another quick kiss.

"We are, emotionally," Carlos began to explain, "but I meant physically." He moved his hands from Cecil's face down to his waist; his bare, bronze waist.

Cecil's hair flushed strawberry blonde with extra strawberry on the tips, and he felt like the carbonation had reached his brain. He'd never felt this way so intensely before, or had a relationship with this sort of intimacy. The closest he'd come was when he was alone in his apartment thinking about Carlos's lips and hair, but that was different; that was a matter of satisfying his own needs. Of course, he was vaguely aware of what was involved in sexual intimacy, but it was all very unfamiliar territory for him. He wasn't entirely sure what to do when another person was feeling the same way at the same time, but he knew that he wanted to do it.

He mirrored Carlos's gesture, sliding his hands down to the scientist's waist, and noticed that Carlos's body was responding to this situation the same way his was. "Like this?" He asked tentatively, noticing that his voice had gotten slightly deeper; as he was only ever alone under these circumstances, he had never heard his voice like this before.

"Yes," Carlos almost sighed in response, adding, "and like this." He pulled Cecil's body against his, and if Cecil's eyes had been open, he was sure the carbonation would have been swimming in his vision. Their erections were pressed against each other, and the friction was somehow both agonizing and wonderful. Their kisses were firmer now, and much more insistent as they sighed and gasped together. It wasn't long before Carlos pulled out of the kissing and repeated, "And like this," before moving in on Cecil's neck. His mouth hung open in amazement at the new kisses, and small gasps jumped out as Carlos planted a line down the center of Cecil's chest and stomach, stopping at the waistband of his swimming trunks, below which a few of Cecil's purple tendril birthmarks snaked out of view. Carlos looked up at Cecil from where he knelt in front of him, and saw that Cecil's hair was platinum blonde.

Cecil simply stared in disbelief at his perfect, beautiful, loving Carlos for a moment before coaxing him up by the shoulders and pulling him into an intoxicating kiss. Cecil started with his hands on Carlos's back, pulling him closer, but then he slid them to his chest, up his neck, and into his damp hair. He tangled his fingers deep into that perfect, glorious hair, and Carlos responded with a small moan and deepened kisses. Cecil felt Carlos's hands wandering now too, up and down his back, and when Cecil tightened his grip in the scientist's hair, he felt hands slide down to his swim trunks and seize his buttocks. A moan leapt unexpectedly from his throat at the unfamiliar contact, and Carlos echoed it.

Cecil had_ moaned_. Carlos had nearly come entirely undone just from that sound alone. He squeezed again, and felt Cecil's body press urgently into his with a softer moan. He'd imagined many times what Cecil would sound like, but it was never this good.

Cecil felt the warm carbonation so strongly in his entire body now that it felt like he was buzzing and glowing from the inside out. He reluctantly withdrew his mouth from Carlos's and murmured weakly, "M-my knees are shaking," and smiled bashfully.

Carlos grinned and took Cecil's hand, leading him to the sofa. Cecil sat down, and Carlos climbed into his lap. The scientist leaned forward to continue kissing him, but Cecil pressed a hand to Carlos's chest to hold him off.

"This bathing suit is getting, um, uncomfortable," Cecil mumbled quietly, trying in vain to adjust himself in the confining trunks he was wearing.

"Do you... you can take them off, if you want," Carlos wanted to be sure they weren't moving too fast, adding, "But you don't have to."

"I want to," Cecil insisted, and began squirming from beneath where Carlos was kneeling over him. Carlos stepped backwards off the couch to do the same and give Cecil more room. For a moment, the two simply stared at each other; Cecil was amazed that he was eliciting such a strong sexual response from his beautiful Carlos, and Carlos was captivated by one of the purple birthmark swirls that reached from the eye on Cecil's bronze chest and swirled all the way down to wrap around his penis. It was strange, but beautiful all the same. After this pause of mutual admiration passed, Cecil reached out and Carlos climbed back into his lap.

Before they resumed their kissing, however, Carlos cleared his throat nervously. "Cecil, before we go any further, I want you to know that you can tell me to stop at any time, and that's okay. I want us both to enjoy ourselves and each other. So if you want to stop or change direction, just say so. Okay?" His voice was deepened from arousal, but still so very soft gentle.

Cecil was touched by Carlos's concern, and he kissed him gently, saying, "Oh, Carlos. Of course I understand." He smiled and pulled Carlos back towards him insistently. They resumed their fervent kissing, now with their penises rubbing together, eliciting moans and sighs they could hardly tell apart from each other.

Carlos felt knuckles graze his erection, and gasped, drawing back from Cecil. The broadcaster had his hand wrapped loosely around himself, stroking lightly, but stopped when Carlos saw. The scientist took Cecil's wrist and gently guided his hand to his own penis instead, and wrapped his hand around Cecil's. This idea hadn't occured to the broadcaster, and when he felt Carlos touching him and saw his perfect fingers wrapped around him and felt warm Carlos in his own hand, he moaned and began slowly sliding his hand up and down.

The two started slowly, but as sighs turned to moans, they picked up the pace. Carlos could hardly believe what was happening, but could barely spare any coherent thought aside from 'YES, MORE, YES!' Cecil was in a similar state of mind, marvelling at how much better this felt with someone else's hand satisfying him - and not just anyone, but perfect, beautiful Carlos with strong, loving hands...

"OH!" Cecil cried out, suddenly overwhelmed by the carbonation that was now concentrated in his groin, "_Oh_, Carlos! I- I- _Ohh!"_ Cecil's voice broke, and his purple eyes and mouth widened in a silent cry as he came. Even though Cecil had distractedly stopped stroking Carlos in that moment, Carlos had been so close that seeing Cecil come in his hand was enough to send Carlos into his own series of moans and bucking the air as he came in Cecil's lap.

Carlos breathlessly leaned fully into Cecil's lap, resting his head against Cecil's shoulder. They caught their breath in silence, which Cecil was grateful for; he was still waiting for the carbonation to ebb out of his head so he could think and speak clearly again.

"I really enjoyed that, Cecil," Carlos finally said softly, kissing Cecil's shoulder before sitting up to see Cecil's face.

"Me too," Cecil replied with a slightly bashful smile. "I would like to do that again."

"I would like that too," Carlos returned Cecil's smile and kissed him surprisingly chastely on the lips before hoisting himself out of Cecil's lap and helping the broadcaster clean himself up.

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about Cecil's promising intern Dana and the scientists' investigation of the house that doesn't exist, until Carlos had to return to the lab and Cecil had to get ready for his show. They parted with a dizzying kiss and a promise to explore this new level of intimacy more in the future.


	5. Another Year Later

Carlos had told Cecil their one-year anniversary date was a surprise, and no matter how much Cecil needled him or attempted to blackmail the information out of him on the air, Carlos would not break. So now every citizen of Night Vale knew about Carlos's ticklish wrists, that he was terrified of the ocean, and that he'd tripped over his own feet the first time he saw Cecil in a mini skirt. The cost was more than worth it, though, as Carlos glanced sideways to where Cecil sat beside him in the car, excitedly looking back and forth between Carlos and the road whenever they approached an intersection, trying to determine where they were headed.

The dim streetlights flitted across them in the darkness of the small car, which made Carlos feel like they were in a slow-motion flipbook. There were no turns for a while yet, so Carlos took his right hand off the wheel and gently took Cecil's left. They caught each other's eye and smiled before Carlos directed his attention back to the road ahead. A good part of the town was behind them now, and the main road stretched beyond their vision into the darkness, dotted by streetlights that were becoming fewer and far between.

Cecil shifted his grip on Carlos's hand and lifted it to his lips, lightly kissing the knuckles. Carlos grinned, and despite the butterflies that had awoken in his stomach as their destination grew closer, he felt perfectly at ease. He'd drive to the end of the world with Cecil if it were possible; their car rides were always so peaceful and comforting.

"How much further?" Cecil asked quietly, just barely containing his excitement. He iloved/i surprises.

Instead of answering him, Carlos took his hand back from Cecil and flicked on the turn signal. Cecil leaned forward to read the road sign, but it was too dark. However, as they rounded the turn, there was a familiar sign on the road ahead, in the shape of an oversized ten-gallon hat.

"Oh, Carlos," Cecil breathed as the scientist pulled into the empty parking lot. Arby's was closed, but the sign remained lit and the lights in the sky above them seemed brighter than usual, but that could have been Carlos's imagination.

He turned the key, and the engine and lights inside the car went off. He looked over at Cecil, only just seeing him in the light of the Arby's sign, and grinned before opening his door. He got out, walked around to the back of the car, and hoisted himself up onto the trunk, Cecil hopping up alongside him.

They sat closer tonight than they did that first night. Carlos had one knee bent, one arm leaning on it with his hands clasped together, and Cecil was beside him, leaning on his hands behind him and with both legs stretched out and dangling.

Carlos reached out and patted then squeezed Cecil's knee affectionately, and Cecil stifled a giggle before shifting to lean into Carlos with his head on the scientist's shoulder. It was blissful deja vu. Carlos wrapped his arm around Cecil's waist, and Cecil moved closer and tilted his head back to look at Carlos, and then up at the lights in the sky above them.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Cecil finally spoke. "This is perfect."

Carlos grinned and kissed the top of Cecil's platinum blonde head. "I'm glad you like it."

Cecil lifted his head from Carlos's shoulder so he could face him and said, "This is the best surprise anyone has ever done for me." The butterflies in Carlos's stomach flew into his chest, and before he could reply, Cecil had leaned forward and kissed him. It was passionate but slow, as if they were holding a wordless conversation. When they broke the kiss, Cecil echoed its sentiment by murmuring, "I love you."

"I love you too," Carlos returned, adding after a pause, "I have one more surprise for you."

"Carlos! You don't-"

"I haven't given you my gift yet, Cecil," Carlos interrupted with a smile.

"This wasn't the gift?"

"Not entirely," he replied, sliding to the edge of the trunk to dismount. Cecil made to follow suit, but Carlos placed a hand on his knee to stop him. The butterflies had been going mad, but now that he was standing, they had quieted, almost like the audience in a theater when the lights went down. He reached into the pocket of his labcoat and withdrew its contents as he turned to face Cecil. Dipping one knee onto the asphalt, Carlos opened the small velvet box and held it up towards Cecil, who was perched on the edge of the trunk. "Cecil, will you marry me?"

Cecil's eyes widened and he gasped, his hair flashing into a brilliant white as his slender hands flew up to his face in astonishment.

"Yes! Oh, Carlos, YES!" Cecil leapt from the trunk of the car and flung himself into Carlos's arms. Carlos was knocked back a few steps by the force of his enthusiastic beau's response, and awkwardly but enthusiastically returned the embrace, one hand still holding the open ring box.

When Cecil finally pulled away from Carlos, the scientist carefully took the ring out of the box and slid it onto Cecil's finger. Cecil's eyes were shining in the light of the neon sign above them as he stared wide-eyed and overjoyed at the ring. Carlos had picked it out very specially for Cecil: it was a titanium ring with three separated "stripes" going around it, and the middle stripe was interrupted by a small tourmaline gemstone in Cecil's favorite green color.

"Carlos, it's ibeautiful!"/i Cecil gushed, his voice a few pitches higher than usual. "Thank you!" Carlos was knocked back by another embrace, only this one was punctuated with a fervent kiss.

"I love you so much," Carlos said into Cecil's shoulder. Cecil pulled back, still holding onto Carlos, and saw tears on his cheeks.

"Oh, Carlos, don't cry!" Cecil sniffed as he said this, still teary himself, and they both giggled at the evidence that Cecil had no room to talk.

"I'm just so happy," and now it was Carlos's turn to sniffle.

"Me too," Cecil replied, and the two beamed. They embraced again, and this time Cecil buried his face into Carlos's shoulder and squealed with delight.

On their way home in the car, Cecil went back and forth between holding or squeezing Carlos's hand and snatching his back to admire the ring. Carlos was sure he'd never stop smiling for the rest of his life.

Some notes about this chapter:

1: I can't post links in here, but I have reference images for the ring and the gem, so feel free to message me for either one.

2: Listening to David Bowie's "She'll Drive the Big Car" inspired me to write about them in the car at night, and the rest developed from there.


End file.
